Review Detail

The House on Stone's Throw Island

Middle Grade Fiction 279

Ghost of WWII

August 07, 2015 (Updated: June 04, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Josie and Eli aren't crazy about the way they have to spend their time-- going to a fancy island for their respective brother's and sister's wedding. They like the idea even less when the parents try to throw them together, joking about another wedding in ten years. They get along okay, though, especially when weird things start happening. The weather darkens, communication is cut off, and Josie sees a girl in a muddy dress run through her room and disappear into a secret passage. Josie and Eli find several secret places, including a run down, fort like building on the property, and Josie finds a diary from the 1940s. They do their research, too, asking the vaguely creepy older couple who are caretakers about the history of the property. When the storm rolls in and causes a tree to crash on the house, things start to get weird. Trusted family and friends are possessed by spirits of German soldiers who came to grief as the result of a failed spy operation, and everyone must work together to survive.

Good Points

It's rare to find anything about how close foreign forces might have gotten to the continental US during WWII. To have German soldiers not only on US soil, but to have them come back as ghosts-- genius.

While there were a lot of characters (some of whom do come to grief, if you are a sensitive readers), I like how Josie and Eli are originally pushed together, but do eventually become friends. The last chapter address how people who lived through the nightmare are faring several months later, which was a nice touch.

It's hard to find scary ghost stories for middle grade readers, and Poblocki has a string of really awesome books. (The Ghost of Greylock, The Book of Bad Things) The House on Stone's Throw Island had a unique setting, threatening ghosts, and lots of pulse-pounding horror, especially in the water. If you were a fan of The Poseidon Adventure, definitely check this out!